High Point Man Jailed on State Tax Charges

Date: 1/5/2005

RALEIGH -- A former High Point business owner pleaded guilty to state
tax charges on Jan. 3, 2005 in Wake County Superior Court.

Douglas Cook, 42, entered guilty pleas to one count each of aiding
and abetting the embezzlement of North Carolina and Guilford County
sales taxes for Cook & Cook Enterprises Inc., a Church’s
Chicken franchise located at 200 S. Main St., High Point. The business
closed in February 2004.

The state’s evidence showed that Cook was president of Cook
& Cook Enterprises Inc. and was responsible for reporting and
remitting the sales taxes collected by the business to the Department
of Revenue. Cook failed to remit $14,180.93 in state and Guilford
County sales taxes from August 2003 to February 2004.

Superior Court Judge Howard E. Manning, Jr. sentenced Cook to a 19-month
minimum, 21-month maximum prison term. The sentence was suspended
and he was placed on probation for 60 months. Cook was ordered to
serve a 30-day active sentence as a special condition of his probation.
He also must pay $14,180.93 in restitution to the Department of Revenue.

The charges against Cook resulted from an investigation by the Greensboro
Collections Office and a special agent in the Department’s Criminal
Investigations Division.